Shirley Had Twin Bucklings

I have been out to the barn every two hours around the clock every day this week.  Three of the fours does left to kid are first time mommies and chances are they will be so distracted by their pain they won't have any clue what's going on.  I worry that if someone isn't there they will leave their babies lying there not knowing what to do.  Rosie and her triplet bucklings who were born on Tuesday are doing great.  By noon on Wednesday Shirley had gone into labor and had delivered one of her kids and was still laboring when I walked into the barn.  If I had been out there 15 minutes earlier I may have been able to save her first little buckling.  He was big.  Just shy of 10 lbs.  She hadn't even turned around to look at him.  He was laying there completely lifeless and soaking wet.  I tried to revive him but no luck.  I quickly moved her into a kidding stall and she delivered her second boy with no problems.  I put him in front of her after I knew he was breathing and she started licking him and taking care of him.  I wouldn't say she is the most attentive mother but she is doing a good job considering all the problems she is having.  I had to go to work that afternoon and when I got home I noticed she still had not passed all of the placenta.  There was a definite odor as well.  Not good.  Signs of infection.  I called the vet and scheduled a time for her to come out the next day.  I had also scheduled an office appointment for our puppy Sophie because she had an ear infection.  I got a call from Dr. Mary asking me if I could bring them both into the office because Dr. Barb was gone for the day and it would save her a lot of running around.  I thought this was going to be really interesting.  Goats really don't like dogs.  I suppose they are too similar to coyotes and foxes to really trust and it is not unheard of to hear than a domestic dog kills a baby goat just like they would kill a rabbit or bird.  Anyways, when the time came I put Sophie on a leash on the front seat and tied the leash to the little handle above the door.  Then I tried to get Shirley out of her stall and into the van.  She wasn't going anywhere without her boy so I picked him up and she reluctantly followed me.  She was less than thrilled when she saw the dog.  I put her on a blanket right behind the front seats and she stool there the entire 20 miles to the vet between the seats giving Sophie the evil eye.  Sophie, by the way, is the worlds most obnoxious and excitable dog but she was so terrified of Shirley she laid down on the seat facing and refused to even look in Shirley direction.  Shirley has a strip of fur right over her spine which is about four inches long and longer than the rest of her coat.  It stood straight on end the entire ride!  Finally we got to the vet, everyone got their antibiotics and we were heading back home.  Another uneventful ride with the exception of the lady we surprised in the Taco Bell drive through who said she had never seen a live goat before and told me I had made her entire day when I pulled the two day old buckling up from behind the seat.  We pulled into the farm and unloaded the dog and settled mom and baby back into their stall.  You could tell Shirley was already feeling better.  She is on a regimen of two medications twice a day for the next 5 days and we pray she will completely recover and be able to look after her boy.  I have not started to milk her yet.  I really feel it's important to let her get her strength back before I start milking.  It takes a lot of energy for her to make all that milk and right now she just doesn't have it.  Her little kid is the cutest stinkin thing I have ever seen.  I don't know how I will ever be able to sell him as a market animal.  I would really like to have him go somewhere as a pet.  If any of you know anyone who would be interested in a Saanen/Boer cross wether please let me know.  I would sell him for $125.00 and would disbud and wether him before going to a new home.  He is all white like a Saanen but has the roman profile and the pendulous ears of a boer.  At two days old he is already bouncing around like a crazy little kid and loves to be pet and held.  He coos and will fall asleep right in your arms.  I am completely smitten.  I just might have to keep him.  Oddly enough I don't feel the same way about the full Boer boys.  They are so masculine and bucky looking I don't really find them as cute.  Of course my heart is with the Saanen breed anyways.  So here are some pictures of Shirley and her beautiful boy.  Enjoy!